Just like the panther
by Awenia
Summary: The year is 1955 and Russia thinks that he has to enhance relations with China. What could be better for that than proving the greatness of the Soviet Union? Unfortunately his "friends" have other plans in mind.
1. Chapter 1

_To him there seem to be a thousand bars_

 _And back behind those thousand bars no world_

 _~"The panther" by R. (1902)_

 **First, a warning: English is not my native language so I'm sorry for probable grammar mistakes and bad formulations.**

 **Before someone is shocked, China is female in this because I think that fits her better, hope that's no problem.**

 **Also I don't want to be offensive and I hope that no one feels insulted from this.**

 **And this is not a 100% accurate historical story although it has a lot of history in it.**

 **That was everything so far, now, enjoy!**

"Open the door! State security service!"

The voice from the other side of the door sounded dull and was barely understandable due to the harsh knocking. Feliks nearly choked on his milk and while cringing with fright he upset the glass. The liquid flowed over his newspaper and quickly soaked up every letter. It wasn't a real loss, the newspapers just kept on telling the same censored reports.

Someone kept on knocking on the door and Feliks quickly got up to open it. He was already sure who was standing there and he didn't like it at all. After all these weeks of rain, today had been a day with pure sunshine and he had thought that this must have been a positive omen. Obviously he couldn't have been more wrong.

It was never nice having someone knocking on the door. Especially when this person sounded like he would kick in the door any second. But if someone who stole your kingdom, took you prisoner, humiliated and tortured you so many times you cannot even count it anymore, killed and tortured your people, burnt your cities and occupied your country, if someone like this knocks on your door, you really know that a hard time is waiting for you.

Why can't they just leave me alone?, Feliks thought. He had no intention to see the others, those who were exactly like him and yet so different. The only people he liked to meet were the old men who kept on talking about the past. He liked to share stories with them and wallow in old memories. But with the years these stories were about a younger and younger past and now the oldest told about the Polish national movement in the 1880s. The thought that soon the oldest people wouldn't remember his time in imprisonment anymore filled him with a bitter fear.

Slowly Feliks opened the door and immediately wanted to slam it shut again. Gilbert grinned widely at him, one hand still in the air as if he wanted to knock again. Next to him was Erzsébet standing, her arms crossed, her face an annoyed frown. Even without minding the deep shadows under her eyes Feliks could see how very exhausted she was. He was not surprised, exhaustion described his own feelings all too well.

Without even trying to hide his anger Feliks asked "Can't you knock like any other normal person? I almost got a heart attack!"

Gilbert laughed. "Why so scared? Didn't really expect the SB, didn't you?"

"It is frightening when you beat the door like this," Feliks replied. "It always reminds me of..." "1939," Gilbert slurred. "Westernplatte, yes, yes, yes. Can we come in now?"

Feliks shot him a death glare and just like all the times before Gilbert seemingly didn't even notice it. He acted like nothing special had happened, like that topic was already a long forgotten story from the past. Maybe Gilbert didn't think of it anymore but Feliks remembered all too well how the door had trembled under the harsh knocking, how the same rasping voice demanded admission. Albeit, back then Gilbert had been armed, uniformed and dead serious. Feliks had to admit that the figure of his nightmares had little in common with the bedraggled looking man who was standing in front of him now.

With the ruffled, white hair, the blood-shot eyes and the shabby clothes he looked simply pathetic. That he was drunk didn't make it better but it was probably the reason why he could still grin like this.

Finally Feliks answered "If it's really necessary" and opened the door a little bit wider. He was proud that he only sounded a bit offended, enough to make the other think about his words but not so much that it would make him look ridiculous.

It was already dusk and the sky began to darken. Obviously the two must have been looking for an accommodation for the night. Feliks knew that they wouldn't leave anymore, he had no other choice but let them into the house.

Slightly staggering Gilbert walked inside the house and looked around. "Ratty as always here."

"Thank you," Erzsébet murmured as Feliks closed the door behind her. She looked resigned but there was also a hint of guilt in her green eyes. She probably understood how much Feliks wished them to leave again. He shrugged as an answer, not knowing what else he could say.

"Hey, your fridge is as good as empty," he could hear Gilbert say and quickly hurried into the kitchen as well before the other could do something stupid. In his opinion Gilbert was always doing something stupid and it would be best to just lock him up in some cell far away from Poland.

"If you wanted something to eat you could have phoned me," Feliks said angrily. "And don't dare to touch my Prince Polo!"

Gilbert looked at the chocolate bar which was still laying untouched on the kitchen table and grinned ironically. "How cute." Before he could do something Feliks grabbed the chocolate and petted the packing gently. The time was flying by and everything changed but one thing remained; Polish sweets would always cheer him up. Feliks had the bad feeling that he would need a lot of sweets in the future. Preferably together with a cigarette, a bottle of Vodka and some ear plugs.

Gilbert had observed the entire kitchen now and asked in a critical tone "Do you actually know the word 'cleaning'?"

"You could have phoned me," Feliks repeated and gritted his teeth. Although he didn't look like it, Gilbert always tried to keep everything clean and in order. Of course he would be shocked of the mess Feliks' kitchen was in. But Feliks didn't care.

Not so many years ago he had owned a beautiful little house and he had cared for it a lot. Then the war had come and his house had got destroyed. Feliks didn't have a home anymore but as long as the war went on he didn't spend a thought about it. There were other things he had to worry about. After the war Ivan himself looked for a house in which Feliks could live and he insisted that Feliks should stay in the ruins which once were his beautiful capital.

Feliks didn't care about his new house which seemed to lack any individuality. He did some cleaning when the dirt started to bother him. Besides, he liked it when things were not always in the right place. Without even thinking about it he liked to go against the order.

"What are you even doing here?" he asked now and Erzsébet answered „We actually wanted to go to Dresden." Meanwhile she had come to the kitchen as well and leaned with crossed arms against the door frame. "Gilbert had the great idea to look for a house there." "But they didn't want to give me one because I was in no need," Gilbert explained. "So I told them I have a pregnant girlfriend and need a taller flat as soon as possible. But they wanted me to actually show up with a woman and lovely Erzsébet was ready to help me."

"You didn't tell me about the pregnant-part," she answered with a frown. "And I was only ready to help you out because you gave me your last cigarette pack, don't forget that."

Gilbert waved his hand and nearly lost his balance. "Yes, yes. I want it back by the way." "Forget it, idiot!"

"Well this isn't Dresden, so what are you doing here?" Feliks repeated and Erzsébet laughed bitterly. "You wouldn't believe it but as soon as we managed to cross the Polish border the car broke down and didn't move anymore. It was a miracle that we managed it to get a train. But it only brought us to Warsaw and now we're here."

"We knew you would take us in," Gilbert grinned. "And we're grateful for that," Erzsébet added. The imagination of travelling together with Gilbert the entire day was so horrible that Feliks immediately felt sorry for the woman. "Just for one night," he said and Gilbert said with a shrugging "Why would we want to stay longer? I searched the entire kitchen, no beer, no vodka. Truly, these are sad times."

Feliks who had feared that someone could suddenly come for a visit had hidden all his drinks and didn't intent to let Gilbert know about that.

"Where can we sleep?" Erzsébet asked and Feliks quickly thought about all his chambers. Of course, he didn't have something like a guest room. Finally he said "You can share the living room. I don't have an oven here but I can get you some blankets."

Gilbert grinned widely at Erzsébet. "Sounds pretty good, right? We can share one blanket together, wouldn't that be cuddly?"

Erzsébet's dark stare was enough of an answer. "Come near me and you won't see tomorrow."

Feliks decided to leave and look for blankets. He remembered a very old one which even still had holes and spatters he had no memory of where they came from. Just the right thing to give to an old enemy.

But before he could actually go the phone rang and the shrill sound made all three of them cringe. Feliks actually hated phones. He would never admit that but he really didn't like these modern things. He hated the sudden ringing and how strange the usually familiar voices sounded. Also, phone calls always reminded him of bad things.

Mostly calls of a superior who complained about this and that and somewhen started shouting so load that Feliks had to step away from the phone.

But he also remembered desperate phone calls with England and France before his door was kicked in.

And in recent times it was always Russia calling, never minding how early it was in Warsaw.

Wanting to stop the annoying sound as quick as possible Feliks hurried to his bedroom in which the phone was- his guests followed him without a question.

Feliks took a deep breath and answered the call. "Slucham." "Good evening, tavarish," a soft voice answered. "You're sounding so tensed. Is my call coming at a bad time?"

Feliks had frozen once he heard the first word. No, this really wasn't a good day. The probably only person he hated even more than Gilbert had called him and he already knew that this conversation would lead to something bad.

He really had to force himself as he said "No, of course not. How... nice to hear you." Gilbert quickly grabbed the phone from his hand and said "Ivan, old chap! Long time not heard!"

That was a silly lie. It only had been some months ago that Ivan had called for all of them to meet. All of them contained Feliks, Gilbert and Erzsébet of course but also Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, Czech and Slovakia. Ivan himself had come alone but delivered the greetings of the other Soviets. For some reason China had also come, saying she wanted to know what her 'Western comrades' were doing.

Ten people in a small room together were not much fun and of course Ivan had chosen no other place for their meeting but Feliks' little house.

Their meeting started with all of them sitting around the kitchen table and Ivan doing his usual speeches about friendship and about the evil doings of the imperialistic Western nations who had founded an aggressive organisation they called NATO. He started with "Since the glorious October Revolution a lot of years have passed but communism didn't weaken but made us all stronger. Yet, there are still those in the world who keep on oppressing our brothers and sisters and who won't rest. As comrade Lenin already said..." and ended with "And after all these years of great economical assistance between us I am very happy to say that we now are ready for military assistance which will also make all of us stronger and bring us closer together against our enemy."

Meanwhile, Romania had a little accident after rocking his chair too much backwards and forwards (Ivan was not very amused about it), Czech and Slovakia started a little on a paper written down conversation about who of them forgot to lock the door and if that was actually necessary and ended up fighting about lunch (Ivan slightly became angry) and Bulgaria finally fell asleep (Ivan looked like he wanted to kill him).

Finally they all got a treaty to sign which Ivan called a Treaty of Friendship, Co-operation and Mutual Assistance. Maybe it was just Feliks but he found it weird to actually sign a treaty which forced him to be friends with someone.

Besides winning so many friends at once Feliks also learnt a lot of important things during the meeting.

Having Hungary and Romania in one room was not a good idea- unless you don't care much about your furniture and want to learn interesting new expressions you probably should never use in public.

Don't take Bulgaria's cookies when he offers you some- you need hours to get rid of the taste again.

Calling China cute is as clever as fighting against the entire Red Army- with a wooden stick.

And apparently no one understands the words "The glass is for drinking not for throwing at people's heads".

In the end Feliks decided that they should never meet in Warsaw again or at least not in a house he still continued living in.

Gilbert's obnoxious laughter brought him back to reality. "Such a coincidence, I know," the white-haired said. "And you know what? Hungary is here, too!"

Erzsébet glanced angrily at him and Feliks quickly took his phone back. "Why are you calling?" he asked but like so often Ivan completely ignored his question. "It sounds like you're having a nice time," he said instead and Feliks was sure to notice a hint of yearning in his voice.

That was exactly what he needed now- Ivan wanting to pay him a visit as well. He quickly answered "It is not so nice as it sounds. In fact the weather is really bad. And actually I don't even have rooms to share. And the two of them wanted to leave soon because, um, we're all quite busy with, um, things, you know."

"It is praiseworthy that you work so hard," Ivan answered and Feliks could almost see his cruel smile. "I have good news for you. In Moscow the weather is wonderful and you know how big my house is. Wouldn't it be great if all of you would come for a visit?"

"Actually I'm really busy here and..." Feliks started but Ivan interrupted him quickly. "What kind of problem is it that you need to stay in Poland? If it is so serious maybe you would like to get some help? We could send troops for support."

Feliks clenched his fists and said "No, it's not that serious. I will tell the others about it." "Otchin kharasho. I'm expecting you tomorrow then." With that Ivan hung up and Feliks looked at the phone in disbelief. Tomorrow?!

Erzsébet and Gilbert were still fighting about "stop telling Russia where I am all the time!" but got silent when they saw Feliks' face. "What did he say?" Gilbert asked.

"Oh, he wrote a letter to the West," Feliks said seriously. "He offered a German reunion and said he would give East Germany back if the allies would let go of West Germany." "What, seriously?" Gilbert's red eyes suddenly seemed to lighten up with hope. Feliks hesitated for a moment before he replied "Of course not. Why would Russia do something like that?"

Oh, it was such a pleasure to see this deep desperation on Gilbert's face. Suddenly completely silent he sat down and stared at his slightly shaking hands. It was only a small revenge but nevertheless it cheered Feliks up.

Resentful. That was what Toris called him once. "You are always carrying grudges against people for things that happened decades ago" was what he said but Feliks didn't agree on this. He was able to forgive people, in fact he forgave people quite often.

France used and exploited him and evilly played with his hopes in 1812, betrayed him in 1920 and didn't help him again in 1939 and still he forgave that stupid snails munching bastard, didn't he?

And Sweden! Feliks still remembered the 'bloody flood' from 1655 and how that bastard defiled his precious churches and monasteries and yet he was ready to speak with Sweden without mentioning this all too often.

And finally Ukraine. She even started a rebellion against him which started the decay of his empire and he forgave her. Probably because he learnt how horrible it was to be oppressed by another country (although he was sure that _he_ had been a very nice and just ruler).

But all this was a proof that Feliks was not unforgiving, it was just like that: some people didn't _deserve_ to be forgiven. And anyway, Toris was the resentful one when he was still refusing to talk to him. Again, Feliks had the feeling that something had to change. And maybe this visit could change a lot.

 **Hope you liked it at least a bit. (In year 1955 the "Treaty of Friendship, Co-operation and Mutual Assistance" or simply "Warsaw Pact" was founded.)**

 **If you have any questions feel free to ask.**

 **And I would love to hear your opinion, so please review!**


	2. Chapter 2

I want to thank all the people who wrote me a review, they made me really happy.

And I am sorry I needed so long to make a second chapter, but here it finally is.

Anyway there are some human names I thought of and you should better know about them:

Victor Mazilescu & Nicoleta Mazilescu = Romania, Moldova

Dominik Sládek & Zuzana Sládeková = Czech, Slovakia

Aleko Ivanov = Bulgaria

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Of course they didn't make it to Moscow in time and of course it was raining when they arrived.

Feliks had the feeling that his mood couldn't get any worse. He hated car drives, they simply would never be as great as carriage rides. He had always loved horses, those beautiful, strong and faithful creatures. He was sure that a good horse would be just as fast and sustained as a car (well, at least as his car) but it wouldn't make this roaring noise and it surely would smell better. And Feliks was sure that a horse back was just as comfortable as his car seat. But when a horse refused to move it was easy to calm it down with an apple while a car with an engine damage would not listen to any swearing or pleading. It was like a miracle when they arrived in Moscow without having a flat tire.

The city was a very fascinating one for sure but under such circumstances none of the three was interested in it. The sky was of a dark blue colour and the never ending rain made it impossible to see anything which was more than three meters away.

Feliks felt soaked to the skin when they finally found the right house. It wasn't prettier than the other houses but far bigger since such a great 'family' lived in it. Feliks' companions didn't look like they had fun either, Erzsébet's hair was so wet that it almost looked black and Gilbert looked with sad eyes at his completely rain-drenched cigarette packet he somehow had managed to get back.

Ivan let them inside with a wide smile on his face. "Welcome, welcome, dear comrades. How nice that you found the time to come." He acted like he hadn't forced them to come and made it even worse when he pretended to actually care about their well-being. "How was your arrival?"

"Just great," Feliks answered. "What could be better than driving hour after hour? And the officials here are all so very friendly and attentive."

"Well, that sounds very nice then," Ivan answered, seemingly not noticing Feliks' sarcasm and took Erzsébet's wet coat off. "I thought the weather in Moscow is wonderful?" the woman asked frowning.

"Oh, it was wonderful," Ivan defended himself. "Just recently it started raining all of a sudden."

"Oh, but of course," Feliks murmured under his breath while he wrung out his own coat, never minding all the water that was dripping onto the floor. Ivan ignored him. "Isn't the most important thing that we are all together? Isn't it even much more cosy when it is raining outside and we're inside with candle light?"

"Does that mean there was a power blackout?" Gilbert asked and Ivan laughed, probably to avoid an answer.

"Oh, the last guests have arrived!" someone said at that moment and when they looked up they could see a small girl running down the stairs, her curly hair flowing. She beamed at the adults and then turned around to the stairs, shouting "Frate! Look who came!"

Much slower and more cautious Victor climbed down the stairs as well and put his hands on the shoulders of his little sister.

"Greetings, Hungary," he said with a smile that revealed his sharp canine teeth.

"Greetings, Romania," replied Erzsébet and her voice sounded so cold that Feliks would not have been surprised when the puddle on the ground had frozen to ice.

"Well, we don't want to spend all of our time in the hallway," Ivan quickly said, noticing the tensed atmosphere. "Victor, Nicoleta, would you be so nice to bring dry clothes for our guests?"

"Of course!" Nicoleta called out eagerly and stormed off. Although she didn't look older than ten or eleven years she had experienced more misery than any other child of her age and still she was always so cheerful and cute – or at least when Feliks was around.

Victor, on the other hand, looked like had wanted to stay a little longer, probably to continue his conversation with Erzsébet. Since their conversations always ended in a fight it was probably the best that he left.

"The others have all gathered in the living room," Ivan explained once the siblings were gone and Feliks' bad feeling got only worse. "What do you mean with 'all'?" he asked.

Instead of an answer Ivan just dragged the three into the living room where indeed all the others were waiting. Somehow all of them found a place on one of the sofas which were forming a circle.

Dominik and Eduard were quietly talking with each other while Katyusha and Zuzana were laughing about something and Aleko tried to make Raivis eat a cookie. And there was Toris, next to Natalia, gesturing a little while he was talking to her. For one second his glance met Feliks' and he quickly looked away again. Feliks sighed and noticed that Erzsébet gave him a sympathetic look.

The next moment Katyusha jumped to her feet and greeted them with a warm smile. "Welcome to Moscow, you three. It is nice to see you again."

Her words sounded so honest that Feliks immediately felt better. Victor and Nicoleta returned and Feliks could finally change his soaked shoes as well as the wet shirt. He wondered whose clothes he were wearing now that they did fit so perfectly. A look to Erzsébet and Gilbert told him that they hadn't been so lucky.

Victor noticed his glance and winked at him. Apparently he still regarded Feliks as a friend and although Feliks hadn't completely forgiven him yet about joining the Pact of Steel and although Feliks would always rather support Erzsébet in a case of a fight he still was relieved about having one more ally here.

"Well then, well then, won't you take a seat?" Ivan asked and they quickly looked for a free place. Feliks found one next to Raivis but it was obvious that there weren't enough seats. Gilbert offered Erzsébet that she could sit on his lap and she replied that she would rather keep standing. Immediately Nicoleta offered her place and so Erzsébet ended up sitting close next to Victor which no one really liked.

"Now that we're all gathered here we can make plans," Ivan happily continued.

"Before that you should tell us why you made us all come here?" Feliks asked and Ivan shrugged. "Why do I need to have a reason for that?"

"Oh, please!" It irritated Feliks that all the others kept quiet but he didn't want to stop now. He wanted to know why he really had to spend his time here. "Don't tell me you suddenly had the spontaneous idea that seeing us would be nice."

"Maybe it wasn't so spontaneous," Ivan admitted and Katyusha asked "Oh, Vanya, have you finally agreed to go on vacation with us? Somewhere in the South would be nice, right?"

"Yes, how about Italy?" Gilbert asked and Feliks wasn't sure if that was irony or not.

Ivan smiled. "You can go to Siberia if you want."

"Oh, maybe vacation isn't such a good idea after all," Katyusha said, looking disappointed. "Now, what did you want to say?" Erzsébet asked.

"Well, let's just say that you will stay for some time," Ivan answered vaguely. "That is no problem, right?"

They exchanged glances but no one said a word and Ivan nodded satisfied. "Just as I expected. Well then, we have to talk about your rooms."

Feliks felt his heart sink. Of course they had to share rooms.

"There are five rooms," Ivan explained. He spoke very slow now as to make sure that everyone could understand his words. "Two for three people, two for two people and one for four people. I thought we could arrange them like this: Toris, Eduard, Raivis, you can keep your room. Dominik, Zuzana, it's alright when you share one room, right? The next one is for the women and then there are two left."

Feliks noticed that he was left, along with Victor, Aleko, Gilbert and Ivan himself. That meant...

"Who of you would like to share a room with me?" Ivan asked. In a moment of awkward silence the men looked everywhere just not at Ivan. Finally Natalia said "I would love to, brother!"

Ivan sighed. "Fine. So you girls have to change rooms with..."

"Wait a second," Zuzana interrupted. "I don't want to share a room with him!" She pointed at Dominik who crossed his arms. "Great!" Victor quickly said. "I would like to share my room with Nicoleta."

"You just don't want to be together with the others," Erzsébet commented, loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Wait! Does that mean my awesomeness has to share a room with those three?" Gilbert asked in horror. "Not like we would want that," Feliks replied.

"Enough!" For the first time Ivan raised his voice and the others went silent. "It's not complicated, isn't it?! We're all friends here, aren't we?"

"Well, why don't we call it a day and just show everyone their rooms?" Katyusha asked, trying to lighten the mood. "The travel must have been exhausting; everyone needs a rest."

In the end everyone got their chamber.

It was already late evening and the sky was dark outside. Feliks laid on his bed, arms crossed behind his head. He was tired, since years he hadn't been so tired. He would have loved to sleep but it was simply impossible, there were too many thoughts running through his head.

This room was cosier than a cell, for sure, but he was worried that this was the only difference.

He had tried to share theories for their stay with his room mates but unfortunately they weren't really talkative.

Gilbert tried to avoid them as well as it was possible in a room of barely more than 15 square metres.

Aleko just said "We will see" and then hid himself behind a book he brought with him.

Only Dominik made a try. "I just hope he has no intention to start something stupid. I really had enough wars."

And now Feliks couldn't get rid of this thought again. So far the war had been kept cold but it would actually surprise no one if that would change. During the last 31 years there had been two world wars why shouldn't there be a third one soon? There were enough conflicts in Europe, Asia and America for that. Feliks just didn't want to have anything to do with it and especially he didn't want people to say later that the war was partly his fault.

Feliks squinted his eyes but it was no help.

When you had three room mates of which one was talking in his sleep, one was tossing and turning like crazy and the third was refusing to turn off the light, it was kinda hard to fall asleep. Feliks thought of reading Aleko's book but he had again forgot how to read the script.

Somewhen during his thinking he must have been fallen asleep cause he suddenly woke up when he heard a knocking at the door.

Hastily he crept out of bed and hurried to the door.

It was Erzsébet who looked a bit nervous. "Sorry, did I wake you up?" she asked and Feliks quickly shook his head. "Not at all."

She grinned slightly. "Are the others sleeping? Or will anyone notice that you left?"

Feliks glanced over his shoulder and whispered then "I guess they're all sleeping. What do you have in mind?"

"Mind a little walk?" the woman asked. "I would like to talk about some things."

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This chapter is weird, I'm sorry, but I needed the plot to really start.

Reviews would make me really happy!


	3. Chapter 3

Finally I have a new chapter finished and for the people who keep reading this – thank you so much for your patience!

From outside they could still hear the pitter-patter of the heavy raindrops and from time to time the floor boards creaked under their feet. Beside this the house was completely silent, it was almost scary. _The quiet before the storm_ , Feliks thought.

"If this goes on we can swim back," he commented with a slight grin. Erzsébet stayed serious. "I had been thinking about something," she slowly said. "And maybe this visit here is the chance I've been waiting for."

"What do you mean?" Suddenly Feliks got excited, he could feel that there was something big laying in the air. When he had decided to come here he had hoped for a change. And maybe Erzsébet had hoped the same. For a moment both of them imagined what they could do, the words they could speak now, the plans they could make. They could already see the change which wanted to approach, the new beginning which would arrive together with the first rays of dawn.

But then the moment was over and both of them had kept silent.

"I wonder why we are here," Erzsébet changed the topic. "Do you think it's another stupid treaty?"

Feliks shrugged. "Maybe a plan against the Western powers? Hey, what do you think? I could volunteer as a spy and then go have a nice time in Italy. Do you think Ivan would get leery?"

It was a silly idea but it made Erzsébet smile and that was what Feliks had hoped for. "Maybe when you don't return for years," she said. "Let's do it like this: you act like you have been captured by the imperialists and we all volunteer to go safe you."

They both smiled about this idea but knew very well that it would remain exactly this; just an idea.

Light fell through the curtains and Ivan knew he should get up. It would be great to stay all day in bed, without any worries and without any responsibility. But he couldn't let his guests be just by themselves, he was a role model now and he should always use the chance to increase his bonds with his allies.

He was not stupid, he knew very well that most of them would rather leave sooner than later and also most of them (if not all of them) clearly disliked him. That was a pity, there was no need for hate, he thought. They should just accept his power and do as they were told and everyone could get along really great. But unfortunately they could simply not see the advantage behind this.

Ivan did not even really like his allies, who were they anyway?

The Baltics – always trembling, making you nervous just by their behaviour

Poland – an old rival

East-Germany – a former fascist

Hungary – well, she had a nice body but that was the only thing useful on her

Czech and Slovakia – two weaklings, always bickering about something

Moldova – just a little child

And Bulgaria, Romania – what were these two idiots useful for anyway?!

But still he needed them for his plans. Especially this very certain one...

"Good morning, brother." The tender voice interrupted his thoughts and reminded him that he wasn't alone in the room. Natalia was stretching herself out on her bed, apparently not noticing that her nightdress was ridden up almost to her hips, revealing her bare legs. Normally Ivan would have informed her about that (he knew that his little sister was a grown-up woman but he still felt protective about her and didn't want men to get wrong ideas) but this morning he was so caught in his thoughts that he barely noticed it himself.

Maybe his sister could be useful, she was a woman after all and could understand the female mind better. When he thought about it he couldn't remember saying something nice to a woman while being sober.

"Natasha," he asked, "would you like it if I called you 'My sweet, little sunflower'?"

"You could call me by any name you like!" Natalia answered, looking up to him with her fiery blue eyes.

Maybe she wasn't so much of a help, Ivan thought. She was simply too nice to him to disappoint him with her answer. He needed advice from someone else.

Erzsébet was relieved when she woke up and noticed that the rain had stopped. Her mood was bad enough, she didn't need bad weather as well.

Also her own clothes were dry again, she was more than happy to give Katyusha her clothes back. Though the two women had nearly the same height, compared to Katyusha Erzsébet felt just flat and wearing her blouses was more than awkward. Of course it had been Romania, that moron, who chose the clothes for her – a surprise he didn't give her his little sister's skirt.

Erzsébet tried to ignore the fact that they would have to live under the same roof for some more time and rather thought back about yesterday night. It had been nice to talk to Feliks, a friend of old times. Erzsébet had the feeling that he was the only person she could freely talk to, something that was impossible with her two room mates.

Zuzana obviously couldn't stand her and while Katyusha was friendly and nice towards her she still was Ivan's sister and simply because of this Erzsébet could not completely trust her. She was sure that she would tell her own siblings everything – if she had siblings. Sometimes she wished she had any, being without any relatives often made her feel lonely. And especially at this place she felt very lonely although they were all together.

Everyone got up at the same time so there was no need to make breakfast twice. Katyusha even got up a bit earlier than the others so she could prepare breakfast. ("It's not that she _has_ to do it, we're all sharing our tasks here. She simply _likes_ to do it.") It amazed Erzsébet how conscientiously Katyusha cared for the others and she had liked to talk about it with the other woman but she was afraid she wouldn't get an honest answer anyway.

She hated this above everything else, if you weren't careful about what you were saying your safety would quickly be gone. It made her feel like she was imprisoned while she wished for nothing but for her freedom.

Over the centuries she had been under the control of so many people, dreaming of the day she could show everyone that she could handle her life on her own. After the divorce of Austria she had sworn herself to keep her freedom for all times. And now? Yes, she was officially a sovereign state but if she would really be that, why didn't she decide which system she liked to have on her own?

Why didn't she treat other countries like she wanted to?

Why didn't she travel to whatever place she liked?

Why didn't she dare to tell her real opinions?

Why did she come to Moscow like a trained dog?

And why, why did she keep silent in this dark corridor?!

Why didn't she talk about this wish of hers which was growing bigger and bigger every day? She wanted to get rid of all this, no "Elvtárs" anymore, no „Igen, Oroszország" anymore! She longed for an uprising, a rebellion, a change!

And yet she kept silent while they had their breakfast.

It was amazing how quick everyone left the room after it, some with a better excuse ("There is this letter for my boss I need to finish _immediately_ ") some with worse ("I, um, have important...stuff to do like, um, checking the...the water faucets, yes!").

Just then Ivan said "Erzsébet, I would like to talk to you" and the woman froze where she was. Victor smirked. "Oh, look, who gets trouble now," he said and Nicoleta looked at him with big eyes. "Frate, why are you saying something mean to Erzsébet? Yesterday you told me you would like to..."

Victor's smirk had vanished quickly and he grabbed his sister by the wrist and dragged her out of the room.

Erzsébet paid no attention to the siblings, she felt cold blood rushing through her veins and had only one thought screaming in her mind: "He found out, he found out, he found out!"

Somehow he must have found out about the secret letters she had got from Austria! She knew that it was crazy but she just had to know what was really going on in the world behind these god damned invisible bars and there was no way she could trust the media.

And now this! At least they were in the kitchen, she could find a weapon here, a knife, a pan, a rolling pin, something! And then she could escape through the window- but where should she go next?

Ivan slightly smiled, almost a bit awkwardly and that irritated her. If he had found out then he surely would look more cold and serious.

"I wanted to ask you something," he asked and Erzsébet waited nervously. "Imagine I would like to get to know you better."

That was something she certainly didn't expect. "If with 'get to know you better' you have on your mind what I think you have on your mind – then no thanks," she said.

"Just try to imagine it," he insisted while her mind simply couldn't allow these images. Her and Ivan? Never! She would rather pick everyone else than him...well, certainly not _every_ one but...

He interrupted her thoughts: "Would you like to be called 'My sweet, little sunflower'?"

For a moment she just starred at him. Was this some new kind of punishment now? "No," she finally said. "I wouldn't associate myself with a sunflower. I'm not that bright and sunny and I'm not as fragile as a flower. And little? I'm not that small."

"Well, compared to me you all are pretty small," Ivan grinned down at her and she took one step backwards. "Bragging with your power over her won't make you win a woman's heart," Erzsébet said.

"Well, how could I win a woman's heart then?"

She couldn't believe this! Now she only had to find a good answer for that...

As always reviews are very much appreciated!

And I hope I can finish the next chapter quicker this time...


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